|
Subject:Re: SMALL LACQUER BOX.
Posted By: Doug & Moyra Fri, Aug 24, 2007
Mike -
You know, on looking at your piece again, we are really not 100% sure about its age. It is remarably similar to Philips piece, with the only significant difference being that Philips piece has predominant thick black lacquer layers, whereas your has uniformly alternate red and black layers. In other respects they are quite similar indeed. These guri pieces are really hard to date, because they all look the same. They don't have any diapers or design motifs that can be used in dating them, and many Ming pieces look quite similar to 20th C pieces.
What we look for in Guri lacquer is 1) signs of age (scratches, chips, base wear, age cracks in the lacquer or core) 2) construction quality (are the alternate layers of color uniformly applied, are there predominant red or black layers) 3) groove shape (Ming guri lacquer was smoothly carved in a U shaped grove, late Qing or 20th C was carved in a V grove) and 4) carving quality (are the designs smoothly carved, symmetical and of consistent depth and width). First impression on looking at Philip's piece was that it seemed a little more subtle in lacquer color than yours (therefore possibly making it a little older), but quite frankly we are scratching our heads now wondering if the subtle difference in laquer layering is really that significant. There is really so little difference between the two pieces from a design and carving quality viewpoint, we are now inclined to discount the layering difference (which could in fact only be an artifact of the camera or photo angles) and attribute both of these to the same timeframe.
What is that timeframe? That is the $64,000 question. We collect carved laquer and have a number of pieces, but not much guri. There really is not much of it around. We have a late 19th C guri lacquer over copper piece that has a copper footrim of the type that matches some known late 19th C conventional carved lacquer vases. It is lacquered on the base, not counter-enamelled in blue. It has predominantly black lacquer (actually a very,very dark brown)with thin red layers. It was this pattern that we thought we recognized and used to date Philips piece. The use of high contrast polychrome red/black became much more pronounced in the 20th C, so we were looking at that with relation to yours. But in hindsight, now having two very similar pieces to compare, we wish to revise our earlier guess on your piece and date it older - 19th C. And we are just guessing here, as there is no significant scholarship on late Qing / Republic export lacquer.
We now tend to believe that if piece is mid 20th C, it is more likely than not to be on a metal core with a blue counter-enameled base.
We still have a lot to learn about carved lacquer, and our education never stops. Even the experts make mistakes. We have an identical Japanese Kamakura Bori suzuribako that was improperly identified by Derrek Clifford in his book "Chinese Carved Lacquer" as an early 19th Chinese piece.
Best regards
Moyra & Doug
|